Wedge-grip track-rail joint.



P. F. DUFFY. WEDGE GRIP TRACK RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-l3, um.

Patented: Oct. 15, 1918.

LQLSLQ.

- I i N V ENTb R ATTORNEY are.

PATRICK F. DUFFY, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

WEDGE-GRIP TRACKQAIL JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

Application filed September 13, 1917. Serial No. 191,235.

To all whom it concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK F. DUFFY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in WVedge-Grip Track-Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a railway or track rail joint.

The prime object of the invention is to provide an improved means whereby the rails may be connected without the use of fish plates or bolts and without the drilling of holes in the rails, to 'thus permit the rails to. remain intact and in no way weakened or injured by mechanical operation, and at the same time to provide a joint which will be durable in use, will firmly connect the rail ends and which is easily manipulated, and is capable of manufacture and installation at low cost.

Another object is to provide a rail joint which is adapted to maintain the rails in rigid and perfect alinement and to provide a greater factor of safety than those at present in use against breakage at the joint due to vertical and lateral shock and strain, by providing a rail joint with a breaking strength in excess of that of the rails which it is adapted to connect. At the same time, this improved construction may be more conveniently installed than present types of joints, which require the provision of holes through the rails resulting in the reduction of their cross section and in weakening them at the important points.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described and claimed; reference being had to accompanying drawings illustrating one preferred embodiment and in which like reference characters designate like or similar parts.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved joint structure in operative relation with rail ends;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the wedges and spreading key detached.

Referring specifically to the drawings, end sections of conventional railway or track rails are shown at 4, a gap 5 being preferably provided between their meeting ends, to permit of contracting and expansion as usual. Particular attention is called to'the fact that the rails are of exactly the same cross sectional construction throughout their length or in other words, no bolt holes 'are provided nor is the metal of the rails broken or injured in any way.

As the main factor in'providing the joint, I employ a-chair or casing 6. This casing is hollow to receive the rails and preferably in made in one piece, having a base web 7 from'which rise side walls 8 which are not connected at their upper ends and which upper ends serve as supports for the tread of the rail, as best shown in Fig. 2. The interior or hollow of the chair therefore conforms in shape substantially to the rail to provide a snug fit. Within the hollow space of the chair, a bearing plate 9 is in serted and which bearing plate is held in contiguous relation .with the undersurfaces of the base flanges of the rails by means of wedge members 10 which have inclined sides cooperating with inclined walls 11 forming part of the web 7. The smaller ends of the wedges 10 are outermost and hence the wedges are impassable through the outer ends of the chair when the bearing plate 9 is in place.

Registering side openings 12 are provided in the walls or sides 8 and through these openings a key 13 is insertible which it will be noted extends intermediate the larger ends of the wedges 10 and has inclined edges 14 to move against said ends to urge the wedges outwardly. As well, a series of openings 15 are provided in the key 13 so that cotter pins or the equivalent, as suggested at 16 in Fig. 2, may be inserted through the proper opening exteriorly of the chair, to secure the wedge key against accidental displacement or loosening.

It will be noted that the parts of the joint structur snugly and tightly engage the rails and particularly that the bearing plate 9 is in tight frictional engagement with the rails, maintained in such relation by means of the wedge members 10, held in place and tightened by the wedge key 18.

In applying the device to rails, such rails are out of alinement and the chair or casing 6 is then slipped over one end of the rail slidably to a sutficient extent to enable the be in place when the chair is first applied if desired, After the wedges are in place and the chair is properly disposed, the bearing plate 9 is properly disposed between the wedges and the rails, after which the key 13 is driven intermediate the ends of the wedges and through the openings 12 and which by reason of the inclined sides 14 force the wedges outwardly, tightens them and causes binding thereof with the plate 9 and binding of the plate 9 against the rails as well. If desired, the cotter pins or the equivalent 16 may be inserted into the proper opening 15 after completion of the joint otherwise, to prevent displacement or loosening of the key 13. The reverse operation of course is true when removing the joint structure or adjusting it to facilitate to replacement of a rail or temporary removal.

It is to be understood that I have described merely one preferred embodiment of this invention and that therefore changes may be made within the spirit and scope and provided they fall within the province of the appended claims.

1. A rail joint means having a chair receiving rail ends, said chair having openings in its side walls and a base web having inclined walls, a bearing plate for the rails, tightening members engaging the inclined walls of the web, and a spreading key in sertible intermediate the tightening members and through said'openings.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0.

2. A rail joint means having a chair receiving rail ends, said chair having alined opening therethrough and a base web having inclined walls, a bearing plate for the rails wedge blocks engaging the bearing plate and the inclined walls of the Web, each of said wedge blocks having inclined ends opposite each other, and a key engaging the inclined ends of the wedgeblocks, said key passing through the alined openings in the chair.

A rail joint means having a chair receiving rail ends, said chair having alined openings therethroughand a base web having inclined walls, a bearing plate for the rails wedge blocks engaging the bearing plate and the inclined walls of the web, each of said wedge blocks having inclined ends opposite each other, and a key engaging the inclined ends of the wedge blocks, said key passing through the alined openings in the chair, and means passing through the spreading key to prevent displacement of the same. I

4. A rail joint means having a chair receiving rails ends, said chair having openings in its side walls and a baseweb having inclined walls, abearing plate for the rails, tightening'members engaging the inclined walls of the web, a spreading key'insertible intermediate the tightening members and through said openings, and means passing through the spreading key to prevent displacement of the same.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. J u

PA'rnio -nnUFrY. Witnesses: V i V ROBERT, E. DUFFY,

J AMES L. DUFFY. J v

flommissioner of Patents, 

